c. 1996 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)-In a decision hailed by homosexual groups as a huge legal victory, the U.S. Supreme Court Monday (May 20) struck down a voter-approved Colorado constitutional amendment that prohibited laws specifically designed to protect gay and lesbian rights.

Elizabeth Birch, executive director of Human Rights Campaign, a Washington-based national gay and lesbian lobbying group, called the 6-3 decision”an outstanding moral victoryâÂ?¦ especially important in light of the congressional gay-bashing, which has reached an all-time high in the last two weeks.” Her statement was a reference to congressional hearings on proposed legislation to allow states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.

But Frank Whitworth, executive director of Ground Zero, a coalition of Colorado homosexual groups formed to fight the amendment, said the ruling”does nothing to erase the extreme campaign of vilification, hatred and stereotypes”that the”fundamentalist evangelical community”had directed at gays and lesbians.

Conservative political and religious organizations were equally vocal in their reactions.

Will Perkins, chairman of Colorado For Family Values, the group that authored the amendment, told reporters in Colorado Springs that the high court’s ruling had resulted in a”truly chilling day for people of conscience across America.” Perkins called the court’s decision”extremist”because it gave”preferred status”to”a conduct that is considered reprehensible by a majority of the peopleâÂ?¦.” Tom Minnery, vice president of Focus on the Family, an evangelical Christian ministry based in Colorado Springs, said the court had rejected an amendment that”politically disenfranchised no one”but”merely preserved the rights of the people of Colorado to respect their own moral beliefs about homosexuality.” White House reaction was also swift, if not as emotional.

Spokesman Mike McCurry said President Clinton believes the decision was”appropriate”because Amendment 2, as the Colorado provision was named, was”bad policy”and”inconsistent with our common values.” The court ruled that the amendment-approved by Colorado voters in 1992 but never enforced because of court challenges-violated the constitutional rights of homosexuals to seek protection from bias in such areas as housing and employment. The Colorado Supreme Court had earlier ruled the amendment unconstitutional.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority, said,”We must conclude that Amendment 2 classifies homosexuals not to further a proper legislative end but to make them unequal to everyone else. This Colorado cannot do. A state cannot so deem a class of persons a stranger to its laws.” Also siding with the majority were Justices John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O’Connor, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Paul Stevens.

Justice Antonin Scalia, who wrote the dissenting opinion, said the amendment was”a modest attempt by seemingly tolerant Coloradans to preserve traditional sexual mores against the efforts of a politically powerful minority to revise these mores through use of the laws.” He said the amendment did not discriminate against homosexuals but sought to deny them”preferential treatment.” Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justice Clarence Thomas sided with Scalia in the minority.

The court’s ruling did not address the legality of homosexual conduct. In 1986, the Supreme Court upheld a Georgia law that outlawed homosexual activity between consenting adults.

Bob Mcginnis, senior policy analyst with the Family Research Council, a conservative public policy group in Washington, noted the court’s 1986 ruling in calling Monday’s decision”a sour-grape ruling that turns the democratic process on its head.” In an interview, Mcginnis said the high court had”labeled the people of Colorado hate-mongers for defending their moral heritage against practices already held to be illegal”by the court in 1986.”The Supreme Court is engaging in the culture wars and is coming down on the wrong side,”he said.

The Colorado amendment was approved by 53.4 percent of the voters in a 1992 referendum after Denver, Aspen and Boulder earlier enacted laws that specifically protected gays and lesbians from discrimination. The state vote overturned the municipal laws and barred passage of any new ones.

Passage of the amendment prompted a homosexual-led boycott of Colorado tourism, which is estimated to have cost the state about $40 million in convention business.

At a news conference, Birch of the Human Rights Campaign said the court’s ruling-along with the defeat of similar proposed amendments in Idaho and Oregon in 1994 and Maine in 1995-should end attempts by opponents of gay-rights laws to push their cause through the ballot process.”State ballot initiatives have been put to rest,”she said.

People for the American Way, the liberal advocacy group founded by TV producer Norman Lear, also hailed the court’s ruling. In a statement, President Carole Shields called the decision”a thrilling victory for the basic American values of fairness and equality.” Two liberal Jewish groups-the American Jewish Congress and the Anti-Defamation League-also hailed the court’s decision. The ADL termed the decision”a major victory in the ongoing struggle against all forms of bigotry and discrimination.”JC END RIFKIN